The direct-to-consumer golf equipment movement finds itself in an interesting moment in time as we head into June.

History shows us that while some things change, others mutate. The DTC world is somewhere in between. 

Let’s say it’s “maturing.” Growing up, if you will.

What started as golf’s version of trite marketing phrases like “factory-direct pricing” and “cutting out the middleman” now is something quite different and significantly more meaningful. While DTC won’t be toppling the Big Five OEMs anytime soon, it’s certainly giving the likes of you and me more choices at lower prices.  

“The direct-to-consumer market is changing,” Sub 70 CEO Jason Hiland tells MyGolfSpy. “Some guys build everything themselves, don’t use open molds and do their own R&D.” 

Others, however, don’t build anything themselves, do use open molds and don’t do their R&D.  

How do you tell them apart?  

All you need is a scorecard. 

Direct To Consumer: A Quick History Lesson 

In one sense, direct-to-consumer golf equipment has been around for decades. You could always buy components and finished products directly from manufacturers outside of the mainstream. When I was a lad, we called it mail order or “sending away.”  

For our purposes, however, we’ll use 2017 as the anchor date for the modern DTC movement. That’s when Ben Hogan and Sub 70 emerged as the DTC OGs. Hogan went there almost by accident, finding massive interest while liquidating stock after filing for Chapter 11 earlier in the year.  

Sub 70, however, was planned to be a DTC enterprise from the start, offering golfers custom-built quality products outside of the OEM mainstream. 

It was also a lot less expensive.  

Hiland already had longstanding relationships with foundries in China from his Diamond Tour Golf component business. Leveraging those relationships into a full-fledged brand with original designs was, relatively speaking, a lay-up. 

“The direct-to-consumer marketing is maturing,” observes Hiland. “There’s starting to be differentiation between the higher-tier brands, the mid-tier brands and lower-tier brands and a lot of the irons some of these new companies are selling look an awful lot like our original 699 irons, don’t they?” 

DTC: What’s The Difference? 

You know the players: Takomo, Caley, Ram, MacGregor, Hogan, Sub 70, New Level. I’m sure you can rattle off a few more if you try.  

As Hiland says, we’re seeing the DTC movement evolving. The new tiers are separated by price, service and product.

Not to say any of those companies sell junk. Far from it. But there’s a reason why Takomo or Caley irons cost less than $600 a set while a set of Sub 70 TA III irons or a Ben Hogan PTx Tour set is closer to $900. The lower-priced products are almost certainly open-mold irons that anyone can sell. The higher-priced options are unique designs and offer much higher levels of customization. 

“There’s no right or wrong answer here,” says Hiland. “But as the industry grows, there tends to be a race to the bottom. It’s not as high-end as the stuff we, Hogan or New Level are doing. We hand-build it all ourselves.” 

It’s important to understand a few of the fundamentals at play here. First off, what we’re defining as low-tier DTC companies aren’t selling you crap. Again, those products are most likely open molds (there are some notable exceptions). You don’t have many shaft/grip/length/lie options, if any, and the set you buy is likely mass-assembled and drop-shipped directly to you from the factory in China to side-step import duties and taxes.  

Mid-tier brands will offer some level of unique design. Often a company will look at an open-mold product and suggest a tweak or two to make it their own. The new offerings from MacGregor and Ram are original designs and their products are custom-built at the company headquarters outside Las Vegas. Mid-tier brands offer more shaft and grip options and will build clubs to your specifications.

High-End Direct-To-Consumer Golf

Over the past seven years, the OG DTC brands have morphed into a unique niche. Part of it was natural evolution and part of it was a necessity.  

“From a purely economic standpoint, we knew there’d be others,” explains Hiland. “We took off with a bang but we figured more people would find their way in.” 

Today, Sub 70, Hogan and New Level may be in the same arena as the other DTC brands but they’re playing a very different game. It’s not about hitting a specific price point anymore. It’s about designing high-performing products that provide value compared to mainstream OEMs.  

“We want our stuff to be as good as anything in the world,” says Hiland. “We aren’t going to settle for three samples from open molds and having our name stamped on it.” 

Sub 70 started its evolution through its partnership with Tommy Armour III. Armour and Hiland co-designed the TA III forged blades and wedges while Sub 70 Master Builder Jeff Bushnell created the forged JB wedge line.  The company has also designed several one-off models for various PGA Tour pros.  

“Economically it doesn’t make any sense but we learn from it,” says Hiland.  “What comes out of these skunkworks projects is really satisfying. I don’t give two shits about the economics of it. I’m doing it because I want to learn. I want to be a better designer and a better CEO.” 

Irons tend to be the easiest lift for DTC brands. We’ve seen Sub 70, Hogan, New Level, Takomo and Caley all perform well in MyGolfSpy’s testing. When it comes to metalwoods, however, that’s where you’ll see some separation between the different DTC tiers and mainstream OEMs.  

But even that is changing.  

The Driver Differentiation Derivative

While Sub 70 and a few others have had occasional high-performing hybrids and fairways, DTC golf brands traditionally don’t stack up head-to-head with mainstream OEMs. They don’t carry the same level of R&D or innovation. The best you could say is that their performance is excellent for the price. They represent excellent value and you can play some solid golf with them.

That’s starting to change, as well. The upper-tier DTC brands find themselves kind of in the middle. Sure, they’re competing with Callaway, TaylorMade and every other mainstream OEM from COBRA to PXG to Wilson to Srixon. But they’re also competing with lower-tier DTC companies selling $200 drivers and $139 fairway woods.  

“We’re starting to differentiate ourselves, we’re starting to push the tech envelope,” explains Hiland. “Our new Pro V2 fairway, for example, has Dual Face technology and a carbon fiber crown.

“They won’t be $139 anymore but it’s still a great value compared to what else is out there.” 

For what it’s worth, Sub 70 will be coming out with a new driver in the coming weeks that it feels will be every bit as good as anything made by Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, PING or COBRA.  

It’s a driver so unique, says Hiland, that it holds Sub 70’s first-ever patent.  

Patents Versus Original Design 

There is a difference between an “original design” and a patent. 

As mentioned, lower-tier DTC brands rely on open molds from their clubhead suppliers in China. These heads are available to anyone. You and I could go into business tomorrow by choosing the models we wanted and slapping on our logo. If we were so inclined, we could suggest a tweak or two to one of those models and claim we “designed”  the club.  

Mid- and upper-tier DTC brands take it several steps further. Ram and MacGregor, for example, have contracted with well-known club designers to create their latest offerings. With the recent addition of Ben Hogan to his stable, Simon Millington has hired veteran designer Gavin Wallin as his full-time director of R&D and design.  

Hiland is an experienced designer, having collaborated with Armour and others on Sub 70 products. But while original, none of those designs has been patented. The new driver, however, does feature patented technology.  

“We want to be the high-end brand in the direct-to-consumer space,” says Hiland. “We won’t artificially raise the price to make it feel more upscale, though. We’ll keep the same margin we’ve always had. If the price goes up, it’s because the materials cost that much more to make it right.” 

Sub 70’s new driver remains under wraps so we don’t know much beyond what we’ve shared. But we will give you a full rundown once it hits the streets.  

Direct-To-Consumer Golf: A New Day Dawning 

How can you tell which tier any particular DTC brand occupies? Price is one indicator, although it’s not foolproof. Most low-tier brands will offer the lowest prices and their products will often look eerily similar. That likely indicates open mold but, again, that’s not foolproof. Chinese foundries often farm out orders of older, licensed models to lower-end foundries. Those models may evolve into that lower-end foundry’s “open” model.  

It happens.  

Lower-tier DTC brands will also have their assembly done in China and their products will be drop-shipped to you directly from the factory.  

Mid-tier brands will have a mix of “tweaked” open models and original designs. They’ll also do their own assembly in the U.S. and will offer a measure of customization. You’ll have more shaft and grip options and your clubs can be built to your specific length, loft and lie requirements.  

Upper-tier DTC golf brands are becoming more like mainstream OEMs, only without the retail presence. They’ll have their own R&D and design programs in-house or via contract with a U.S.-based designer. They’ll offer the highest level of customization and, generally speaking, the highest level of overall performance. That’s not etched in stone, either.  

As we said, none of these companies make crap.  

“I’ll get off my high horse and say there’s no question that all these models can work out,” says Hiland. “We’re just different. If someone only wants to spend $400 or $500 on a set of irons, that option exists.” 

This article was written in partnership with Sub70.

The post Direct-To-Consumer Golf Grows Up  appeared first on MyGolfSpy.